We’ve always suspected that lithium-ion batteries were going to be important in the future, but Panasonic blew us away with their announcement that they’d be bringing to market in 2011 a system that would allow storage of at least a week of electricity for a home. The unnamed system would be powered by lithium-ion batteries and would work in conjunction with a solution that displays power consumption on a display. This is a very preliminary announcement so details are sketchy.
This product will probably have a significant installation cost. While lithium-ion batteries do hold their charge well, they are not perfect. For most of us, spending extra money each month on energy that is dissipated from the batteries is not a pleasant thought.
Also, remember that the announcement is most likely referring to Japanese energy usage. While the estimated average usage of US homes varies, universally reports suggest that Japanese homes useless (if for no other reason than they tend to be smaller).
On a smaller scale, however, such a battery becomes very attractive. Solar, wind, and other green methods of energy collection need a viable and long-lasting battery solution. The proposed Panasonic battery could be just what the doctor ordered.
Panasonic has recently completed a takeover of Sanyo making it the second-largest electronics company in Japan (behind Hitachi).
